Arcanum News

Happy 65th anniversary to the Oswalts!

By Vickie Rhodehamel

George and Joanne (Oda) Oswalt will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary on Aug. 26. They were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Pitsburg by the Rev. Wright. They are the proud parents of Dianna (Gilbert) Jay, Pamela (Mark) Oswalt, Barbara Oswalt, and Rick (Brenda) Oswalt. They have five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Family members ask if you know George and Joanne that you shower them with cards to their home address. Congratulations on 65 years of wedded bliss!

The Pitsburg Church of the Brethren will host a men’s singing group called, Community of Song, on Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. Community of Song has been singing for eight years. They sing at weddings, funerals, anniversaries celebrations, retirement communities, district and national church conferences. Their repertoire includes early American and contemporary music, new arrangements of familiar church music, spirituals and other songs of faith. They always invite their audiences to feel the Spirit move through the words and music they present. The group includes ten men who are all members of the Church of the Brethren. The public is invited to come and enjoy an evening of song and praise. Refreshments are served following the performance. The church is located at 8376 Pitsburg-Laura Road, at the west edge of Pitsburg. For further info, contact Bruce Shank at 937-564-2891.

Don’t forget a couple of fundraisers coming up for our local residents who are in need of help with medical expenses. First, a garage sale for Jason and Christine Daugherty at 5 Ivestor Lane. This is a one-day only event on Sept. 12 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Secondly, a Poker Run Benefit for Justin Troutwine is being planned on Sept. 19 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Hot Rod & Harleys Sports Bar & Grill at 1240 E. Russ Road, Greenville.

There’s still time to register for the ninth Tour de Donut in downtown Arcanum on Sept. 12. This event is now the largest one-day bicycle event in Ohio. For more information, visit www.thetourdedonut.com, deadline is Sept. 1 for registration.

The Great Darke County Fair

Enjoy the Great Darke County Fair this week – called the greatest county fair on earth, this year is the 159th event year. The fair was started in 1852 when Dr. I.N. Gard was named chief executive officer and ably led by such men as George Coover, Alfred Kitchen and Noah Arnold to realize the dream and plan for an agricultural fair for the following year. And so it came to pass that on a Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 7 and 8, 1853, Darke County indeed had a fair of its own. Greenville, as the county seat, was selected for geographic reasons and thus the initial fair was held on the grounds immediately east of Garst museum. Three times since the fair’s 1853 inception the event was canceled: 1862 and 1863 the fair was canceled because the county was embroiled in pitting brother against brother in the Civil War; and again in 1949 due to the outbreak of polio in the county and surrounding area.

What’s your favorite exhibit, food, entertainment? Perhaps you have a 4-H’er, band member, or cheerleader you will be supporting or have entered exhibits in the Fine Arts or Domestic Arts, FFA, or one of the livestock barns; whatever your reason for attending the fair make it one of the best ever!

Best of luck to all of the youth exhibitors at the fair; it will be a memory of a lifetime that you will tell your children and grandchildren about in years to come. While you are there don’t forget to support your local vendors that work the fair. Perhaps you might visit the Arcanum A# Tent for a meal, have a lemonade shakeup from Martin’s Old Fashioned Lemonade, an elephant ear from Chuck’s Foods, or a Farmer Brown and some Just Ice Cream; or just be there to see old friends, enjoy and make some memories.

Vickie Rhodehamel is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves The Daily Advocate readers weekly with her Arcanum community column. She can be reached by calling 937-692-6188, by e-mail at krhodehamel@woh.rr.com. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

Vickie Rhodehamel is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves The Daily Advocate readers weekly with her Arcanum community column. She can be reached by calling 937-692-6188, by e-mail at krhodehamel@woh.rr.com. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.